Apparatus for supplying hydrocarbon oils to buildings



F J. SQHULL.

(No Model.)

Apparatus forSupplyingHydrocarbon Oils to Buildings. No. 229,316.Patented June 29,1880.

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U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-.0

JOHN .S. HULL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING HYDROCARBON OILS T0 BUILDINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,316, dated June 29,1880.

Application filed March 31, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN S. HULL, ofBaltimore city, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus fo; Supplying Hydrocarbon Oils to Buildings;and I hereby declare the same to be fully, clearly, and exactlydescribed as follows:

My present invention consists in certain improvements upon that forwhich Letters Patent of the United States were granted to me October 23,1877, No. 196,360. In the said Letters Patent is described an apparatusfor supplying hydrocarbon oil to the various parts of a building, thesaid apparatus consisting, essentially, of a condensing air-pump, areceiver for compressed air, a receiver for the oil, and suitable pipesconnecting these parts in the order named. From the oil-vessel, situatedoutside the building, led a series of pipes to the various stories andparts of the building to supply the oil to burners, Where it wasconsumed for heating or illuminating purposes.

My present invention consists in the combination, with the necessaryapparatus for supplying the oil, as described, of a vacuum-chambe'rconnected with the supply-pipes, whereby the supply of oil may be almostinstantaneously withdrawn from the building in case of fire.

Generically, the scope of the invention may be so expressed;specifically, it consists, further, in certain details of constructionand arrangements of parts, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated, in side elevation,a device embodying my invention, A is the building, throughout whichlead the oil-supply pipes, which feed the oil to any suitable burners;and A, B, and O are, respectively, the receiver for compressed air, thereceiver for the oiLsupply, and the vacuum-chamber.

D is an air-pum p adapted to force air through the pipe to into thereceiver A, and to create a vacuum in the tank 0, through the medium ofthe pipe 0, having the cock 0. The pipe b connects all three tanks, andis a continuation of the main supply-pipe E. It is furnished with acock, 0, and is connected with the tank (No model.)

A by means of a pipe, f, having a cock, f. With the tank B it isconnected by means of a pipe, g, leading to the bottom of the tank, andhaving a cock, 9, and a pipe, h, having a cock, h, connects it with thetank 0.

The tanks A and B are independently connected by a pipe, 2 provided witha cock, i, and the top of the tank B and bottom of tank 0 are connectedby a pipe, j, having a cock, j.

Such are the construction and arran gemen tof parts.

In operation, the cocksf, h, c, and j being closed, and e, t", and gbeing opened, the pump is set in operation, and by exhaustion of the airfrom tank 0 a vacuum is created in the tank. The air exhausted from (Jis forced through the pipe a into tank A, and from the latter passes bythe piper into the tank 13, whence it drives the oil through the pipes gb, supplying the heating or illuminating burners. Should a fire breakout in the building, or should it become, for any other reason,desirable to clear all the oil from the pipes, a cock in the remotestportion of the circuit (or in a pipe, I, communicating with the same) isopened, so as to open communication with said pipes and theair-compressor directly and admit the compressed air, and the cooks cand h being opened, and the cooks j, i, g, and f being closed, the oilis thereby driven out of the pipes in the building by the compressedair, and is forced into the vacuum-tank (J.

The tanks B and O arelocated at a safe distance from the building, and,by preference, under ground, so as to afford immunity from danger oftheir contents becoming ignited, or of the bursting of the tanks by theevolution of gas from their volatile contents.

The air-pump and tank for compressed air may be, and by preference are,located in the building, and the various pipes are so disposed as tomake the cooks by which connection between them is set up or out offreadily accessible.

The tank A is provided with a pipe, 70, adapted to be coupled with thepipe 1, so that direct communication between tank A and the circuit ofpipes may be had, and the compressed air in the tank may be thus used toforce the oil out of the pipes, butinasmuch as the cubical contents ofthe tank 0 are so much greater than the contents of all the pipes withinthe building, the latter may be completely emptied without materiallyimpairing the approximation to a vacuum therein.

5 The assistance of the compressed air in clearing the pipes is notessential, though where it is desirable to empty them as quickly aspossible it may be invoked, as set forth.

When it is desired to restore the oil thus drawn from the supply-pipesinto the vacuumtank to the tank B, the cocks 0, g, t", and e are closed,and f, h, and j are opened, as is also the vent no in the top of B.

The pump being now worked, the air enters r 5 at d, and is forced intothe tank 0, through the pipes a, f, b, and h, causing the contents ofthe tank to pass through the pipej into the oiltank B.

Inasmuch as the vacuum-chamber O is only used in case of emergency, andits supply of air being exhausted and pumped into the tank A would onlysuffice to discharge a part of the contents of B, as soon as the desiredapproximation'to a vacuum is produced in O the cock 0 is closed, and avalve or cock, (1, on

the pump is opened, affording a supply of air to the tank A, in whichany desired pressure may be maintained. Such usual and wellknownadjuncts as pressure-gages and a gageglass to determine the level of oilin the tank B, I have not thought it necessary to show nor describe.They would, of course, suggest themselves.

ltis furthermore obvious th at the com pressed air in the tank A may beused for freeing the pipes of oil independently of the vacuumchamber, itbeing only necessary to close the cocks h, f, and t, and open those 0 gand the vent in B, and connect 70 with Z, when the compressed air willforce the oil out of the pipes and into the tank B.

F is a main supply-tank for the oil. It is coupled with the air-pump bya pipe, y, having cook 51 and has a pipe, f, leading-from its bottom tothe tank B. When it is desired to replenish the latter, it is onlynecessary to force air into the tank F through pipes a and y, when theoil will be driven over into B.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure 50 by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with a pneumatic apparatus for the delivery ofhydrocarbons to burners, a vacu um -ch amber in communication therewith, and adapted, as set forth, to clear the delivery-pipes of theoil, as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, substantially as set forth, of a chamber forcompressed air, an oil= reservoir provided with a delivery-pipe, and avacuum-chamber in communication with the latter, whereby thedelivery-pipes may be em ptied into the vacuum-chamber, as described.

3. The combination, substantially as set forth, of an air-chamber, anoil-reservoir, and a vacuum-chamber, all provided with communicationwith one another in the order named, as and for the purpose setforth.

4. The combination of the air-chamber, the oil-reservoir, and thevacuum-chamber, each provided with communication with the others andwith the supply-pipe, as described.

5. The combination of the air, the oil, and the vacuum chambers andtheir connectingpipes, provided With cocks, whereby communication is setup at will between the said chambers, as and for the purpose set forth.-

6. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the tank forcompressed air, having coupling for connection with the terminus of theoil-supplypipes, with the oil-receivingtank and supply-pipes, asdescribed.'

7. The method herein described of clearing the supply-pipes of abuilding which is fitted with a pneumatic hydrocarbon supply, bypneumatic pressure, substantially as set forth, 85 whereby the pipes areimmediately cleared of their hydrocarbon contents, as described.

8. The herein-described method of clearing the supply-pipes of abuilding which is fitted with a pneumatic hydrocarbon supply, whichconsists in forcing air from a compressed-air reservoir through saidpipes, as and for the purpose set forth.

JOHN s. HULL.

Witnesses:

J OHN O. GITTINGER, R. D. WILLIAMS.

